https://www.terrygodier.com/the-last-quiet-thing

This is about how the vast majority of 21st century tech imposes unpaid, unending work on just about everybody.

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That post resonates with me.

It also reinforces something else I’ve been thinking lately - that we don’t need our corporate masters nearly as much as they need us. If enough of us opt out of the capitalist hell that they’ve created, their entire world will implode.

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Excellent link, thanks for sharing!

I definitely agree that the “addiction” to our devices with their badgering connections/updates is not our fault, although I do feel we can make choices to reduce these influences on our selves. We can still take agency, like the author wearing a basic watch instead of a smart watch. It is harder in some cases, like new cars and new thermostats, to avoid the ceaseless software/wifi connection bullshit. But even replacing/avoiding a few smart devices is worth the peace of mind.

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I have a “smart” TV. I don’t connect it to the local network, let alone the internet. It has a much harder time making demands on me. Likewise, using a Linux distribution that isn’t designed to be “user friendly” saves me a lot of hassle. And my 2008 Nissan still runs well and doesn’t have any of this modern :poop:

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All of this.

As some of you know, my old phone’s touch screen abruptly stopped working a few weeks ago. Even after getting a new phone, it took ages to get back into my email account and get it to stop sending two-factor codes to my broken phone. Even after trying many times to turn off two-factor authentication.

I’ve seen library patrons get permanently locked out of accounts for the same reason. That shouldn’t happen. There should be better design in place so it doesn’t.

And there need to be limitations on what kinds of services can legally be subscriptions. I’ll never buy a printer that refuses to print black ink because I ran out of magenta ink.

I was handed down a smart TV, but I only use it to watch DVDs.

Frankly, we need to stop treating organizations of any kind as if they were human beings with rights. A corporation should have no rights or freedoms. It should have narrowly defined powers and be forcibly shut down and legally dissolved if it oversteps. A corporation that makes printers certainly should not have the power to make printers that refuse to print grayscale documents because they ran out of cyan, yellow, or magenta ink.

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